This invention relates to shoes, and in particular, to footwear generating an enhanced expenditure of energy invested with each walking step with minimal recovery of the invested energy.
Historically, maximal return of invested energy has been the mantra of athletics, ever since the first “sneaker” or rubber soled sport shoe, and before that the invention of the heel in Julius Caesar's day, designed to reduce his troops' fatigue from walking. However, in our times the struggle against obesity, the desire for trimness, and the need for fitness achieved at low financial and time costs, mandate a new approach to shoe function. Prior art efforts for exercise shoes have included weights and sole forms. However, these have had limited appeal, due, not only to their bulk and discomfort, but also as not being well attuned to an exercise goal. The approach of using weights attached to ankles or using weighted shoes does assist in the expenditure of energy, but only of muscle masses involved in lifting the weight vertically, and overcoming the inertia of the weight masses in horizontal motion. Moreover, the lifting of such weights is uncomfortable and possibly injurious to the joints and body structure ligaments. The sole forms approach, using shaped soles, actually does exercise the foot, though mostly in flexure, which in reality is a stretch exercise, not primarily a muscle contraction exercise system, hence not intrinsically an energy dissipating exercise and strength and stamina enhancement system. Examples include the “earth shoe” that uses no heel and thickens the anterior part of the sole (lowering the foot posterior relative to the anterior), and curved soles that force the foot into a rocking motion during a step.
This Invention has three objectives, each attained by separate means:                1. Creation of shoes whose soles induce the wearer to expend energy in exercise by enhanced investment of effort while performing plain walking or jogging.        2. Dissipation of heat generated by exercise.        3. Design of insole to enhance comfort during the walk or jog.        4. Optional provision of arch supports to minimize arch discomfort or pain during the enhanced investment of effort.        
These objectives address the gamut of people wishing to increase their exercise efforts during walking and jogging. This includes sports and military and martial arts trainees, devotees of fitness, those wishing to reduce excess fat-based weight, and others. The optional provision of the invention also addresses the needs of people wishing to increase their exercise efforts during walking and jogging whose arch is non-optimal.